By Matt Delaney The Washington Times Thursday, November 14, 2024

Look for the Trump administration’s slate of new federal prosecutors to lead a nationwide crackdown on migrant criminals and to push for greater involvement in reining in big-city crime, especially in the District of Columbia, former federal prosecutors said.

As a result of the expected shift in the Justice Department’s law enforcement priorities, illegal immigrants convicted of nonviolent crimes such as shoplifting or drunken driving would face deportation at rates similar to migrants charged with shootings and muggings.

U.S. attorneys also may be tasked with cleaning up crime in major cities. Federal authorities have jurisdiction to pursue gangs, drug traffickers and ex-convicts caught with guns. The most affected office may be in the District, where prosecutors handle federal and local cases.

Both prongs would help fulfill President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to restore law and order in the country.

Former Justice Department prosecutors said most of Mr. Trump’s priorities, particularly those related to immigration, will require only reinstituting practices largely ignored during the Biden administration.

“We used to do a lot of what they call ‘plea and flee,’ where you would say, ‘Plead guilty, the prosecutor will agree to no jail time and just get out of here.’ We would fly them right out,” Joseph Moreno, a former federal prosecutor, said about migrants charged with low-level crimes. “Judges like that, and the ICE agents like that, because we could just keep moving them because there can be a bottleneck.”

A former U.S. attorney who served during Mr. Trump’s first administration and who asked not to be identified said illegal reentry cases likely will increase along border states.

In the cities where migrants settle, he said, the federal offices will revive efforts to thwart fentanyl traffickers and illegal immigrants tied to violent crimes, in addition to the petty theft and drug offenses that put them on law enforcement’s radar.

The former U.S. attorney said Mr. Trump set up a task force specifically to pursue MS-13 during his first term. A similar initiative could combat other migrant crime groups proliferating in the country, such as the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, which has outposts in Denver, Chicago and New York.

Reemphasizing immigration cases will help reverse the drop in prosecutions under the Biden administration.

According to the Justice Department’s annual statistical report, which collects data from all 94 federal districts in the U.S., nearly 50,000 cases were filed in court during the 2023 fiscal year. That was down almost 30% from more than 69,000 filed in fiscal 2019.

“Prosecutions have fallen in this administration significantly, just in broad numbers,” the former U.S. attorney said. “I think a big push is going to be, kind of like, ‘Get back to business.’”

Installing hard-nosed prosecutors in major cities is another safe bet, said another former federal line prosecutor who asked not to be identified.

He anticipates police in cities with soft-on-crime prosecutors will involve the FBI in cases where federal charges apply, particularly for ex-felons found with guns. Armed ex-cons add to long-standing violence issues in cities, he said, and federal convictions can put them behind bars from five to nine years.

Some of the most controversial prosecutors still in office, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, received funding from left-wing billionaire George Soros during their respective campaigns.

The former prosecutor said a more aggressive U.S. attorney in the nation’s capital could have the most effect.

He called out U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves for going easy on former convicts caught with guns by charging them in local criminal court rather than throwing the book at them in federal court.

“If it goes to Superior Court, which is what Matt Graves has been doing, they drop the felon in possession charge and charge them with carrying a pistol without a license,” the former prosecutor said. “But then they have the defendant plead guilty to having an unauthorized firearm or unauthorized ammunition, and the guy gets probation. It’s a joke.”

Mr. Moreno cautioned against local police working with federal prosecutors more than their district attorney’s office.

Although that approach is legal, it could be seen as a breach of protocol that could damage the relationship between the police and the central prosecutor’s office.

Still, Mr. Moreno acknowledged that a new U.S. attorney in the District could significantly reduce city crime.

The former U.S. attorney who served during Mr. Trump’s first term said “resistance” prosecutors in federal offices nationwide shouldn’t be a concern.

Politico reported this week that some prosecutors in the Justice Department’s headquarters may sabotage cases with which they disagree.

An attorney with Mr. Trump’s transition team suggested they leave the department now so they don’t interfere with the incoming president’s agenda.

The former U.S. attorney said the problem is confined to the Washington political scene and does not represent attitudes outside the nation’s capital.

“The vast majority of the people in these offices are really good people,” he said. “They’re career prosecutors. They’ll salute and take orders, and you can count on them to do whatever the direction is from the department.”

• Matt Delaney can be reached at [email protected].